View source for Gil Merrick

{{short description|English footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2009}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name                = Gil Merrick
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| fullname            = Gilbert Harold Merrick
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1922|1|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Sparkhill]], [[Birmingham]], England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2010|2|3|1922|1|26|df=y}}
| death_place         = Birmingham,<ref name="Ind 10 Feb"/> England
| height              = 
| position            = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]]
| youthyears1         = 1938–1939 | youthclubs1 = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham]]
| years1              = 1939–1960 | clubs1 = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] | caps1 = 485 | goals1 = 0
| nationalyears1      = 1951–1954 | nationalteam1 = [[England national football team|England]] | nationalcaps1 = 23 | nationalgoals1 = 0
| manageryears1       = 1960–1964 | managerclubs1 = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]
| manageryears2       = 1967–1970 | managerclubs2 = [[Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.|Bromsgrove Rovers]]
| manageryears3       = 1970–1973 | managerclubs3 = [[Atherstone Town F.C.|Atherstone Town]]
}}

'''Gilbert Harold Merrick''' (26 January 1922 – 3 February 2010) was an English footballer and football manager. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of great [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] keepers which included the likes of [[Johnny Schofield]] and [[Harry Hibbs (footballer)|Harry Hibbs]]. Merrick spent his entire career at Birmingham City, playing more than 700 times between 1939 and 1960. He made 170 appearances during the Second World War and 485 in [[the Football League]] following the end of the war. He won 23 [[Cap (sport)|caps]] for the [[England national football team|England national team]], and played in the [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954 World Cup]]. After retirement as a player, he managed the club for four years.

Birmingham City renamed the Railway Stand at their [[St Andrew's (stadium)|St Andrew's]] stadium the Gil Merrick Stand for the start of the 2009–10 season.

==Domestic career==
Merrick was born in [[Sparkhill]], [[Birmingham]]. He signed professional terms with Birmingham in August 1939, and remained with the team until his retirement as a player in 1960. At first, Merrick was third-choice goalkeeper behind boyhood hero [[Harry Hibbs (footballer)|Harry Hibbs]] and [[Jack Wheeler (association football)|Jack Wheeler]]. This meant that Merrick had to wait until 20 May 1940 to make his debut in the Birmingham first team, then playing in the Midland Regional League because of the Second World War. With the retirement of Hibbs, Merrick gained the chance to play more competitive football, and by the end of the war he had amassed 170 appearances for the "Blues",<ref name="Ind 10 Feb">{{cite news |first=Ivan |last=Ponting |title=Gil Merrick: England goalkeeper unfairly blamed for the heavy defeats against Hungary in 1953 and 1954 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gil-merrick-england-goalkeeper-unfairly-blamed-for-the-heavy-defeats-against-hungary-in-1953-and-1954-1890932.html |work=The Independent |date=6 February 2010 |access-date=6 February 2010}}</ref> including an [[FA Cup]] semi-final against [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]], which Derby won 4–0 after a replay.

When [[the Football League]] resumed in 1946, Merrick found himself playing regularly for the recently renamed Birmingham City. In 1948, Merrick helped the club win the Second Division Two, missing only six games along the way. He played regularly for the Blues until the end of the 1954–55 season, when another Blues prodigy, [[Johnny Schofield]] replaced him in goal because of injury. During this time, Merrick achieved 126 league games in a row, from 15 April 1949 to 5 April 1952. He also played in every FA Cup game during this time, another nine games, including an FA Cup semi-final appearance against [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]], which the Blues lost 2–1.

By the 1955–56 season, Merrick had once again firmly established himself in the Birmingham City goal, as the Blues produced their best ever season, finishing sixth in the First Division and reaching the [[1956 FA Cup Final]], which they lost to [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]. Merrick was also the keeper when Birmingham reached the FA Cup semi-final the following year, only to be knocked out by [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]].

Merrick also played in the [[1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]], in which Birmingham were knocked out at the semi-final stage by [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]], losing 2–1 in a replay at the [[St. Jakob Stadium]] in [[Basel]]. He also played some part in the 1958–60 tournament, but had lost his place in the Birmingham team to Schofield when Birmingham lost to Barcelona in the final.

After only playing one game in the 1959–60 season, Merrick retired to become manager of the team he had served loyally for more than 20 years.

==International career==
Merrick was capped 23 times by [[England national football team|England]]. He made his debut against [[Northern Ireland national football team|Ireland]] on 14 November 1951 at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] in the [[1952 British Home Championship]]. He was first-choice goalkeeper for England in the [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954 World Cup]], his last international appearance coming against [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]] on 26 June 1954, as England were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.<ref name=Englandstats>{{Englandstats|ref=y|access-date=8 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/CmpWC/CmpWC1954Finals.html |title=England in World Cup 1954 – Final Tournament |publisher=England Football Online |access-date=8 February 2010}}</ref> All of Merrick's caps were gained when Birmingham City were a Second Division club. He is perhaps best known for being the last line of defence against the [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] side of [[Ferenc Puskás]] and [[Nándor Hidegkuti]], the "[[Magnificent Magyars]]" who beat England [[England v Hungary (1953)|6–3 at Wembley]] in 1953 and 7–1 at the [[Nepstadion]] in 1954.<ref name="Ind 10 Feb" />

The following is a complete list of Merrick's England appearances.<ref name=Englandstats/>

:''England score given first.''

{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! Cap
! Date
! Opponents
! Score
! Competition
! Venue
|-
|align="center"| 1 || 14 November 1951 || {{fb|NIR|name=Ireland}} ||align="center"| 2–0 || [[1952 British Home Championship|1952 Home Championship]] || [[Villa Park|Villa Park, Birmingham]]
|-
|align="center"| 2 || 28 November 1951 || {{fb|Austria}} ||align="center"| 2–2 || Friendly || [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley, London]]
|-
|align="center"| 3 || 5 April 1952 || {{fb|Scotland}} ||align="center"| 2–1 || 1952 Home Championship || [[Hampden Park|Hampden Park, Glasgow]]
|-
|align="center"| 4 || 18 May 1952 || {{fb|Italy}} ||align="center"| 1–1 || Friendly || [[Stadio Comunale (Florence)|Comunale, Florence]]
|-
|align="center"| 5 || 25 May 1952 || {{fb|Austria}} ||align="center"| 3–2 || Friendly || [[Praterstadion|Prater, Vienna]]
|-
|align="center"| 6 || 28 May 1952 || {{fb|Switzerland}} ||align="center"| 3–0 || Friendly || [[Hardturm|Hardturm, Zurich]]
|-
|align="center"| 7 || 4 October 1952 || {{fb|NIR|name=Ireland}} ||align="center"| 2–2 || [[1953 British Home Championship|1953 Home Championship]] || [[Windsor Park|Windsor Park, Belfast]]
|-
|align="center"| 8 || 12 November 1952 || {{fb|Wales}} ||align="center"| 5–2 || 1953 Home Championship || Wembley, London
|-
|align="center"| 9 || 26 November 1952 || {{fb|Belgium}} ||align="center"| 5–0 || Friendly || Wembley, London
|-
|align="center"| 10 || 18 April 1953 || {{fb|Scotland}} ||align="center"| 2–2 || 1953 Home Championship || Wembley, London
|-
|align="center"| 11 || 17 May 1953 || {{fb|Argentina}} ||align="center"| 0–0 || Friendly || [[Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti|Monumental, Buenos Aires]]
|-
|align="center"| 12 || 24 May 1953 || {{fb|Chile}} ||align="center"| 2–1 || Friendly || [[Estadio Nacional de Chile|Nacional, Santiago]]
|-
|align="center"| 13 || 31 May 1953 || {{fb|Uruguay}} ||align="center"| 1–2 || Friendly || [[Estadio Centenario|Centenario, Montevideo]]
|-
|align="center"| 14 || 10 October 1953 || {{fb|Wales}} ||align="center"| 4–1 || [[1954 British Home Championship|1954 Home Championship]] || [[Ninian Park|Ninian Park, Cardiff]]
|-
|align="center"| 15 || 21 October 1953 || [[FIFA]] XI ||align="center"| 4–4 || Friendly || Wembley, London
|-
|align="center"| 16 || 11 November 1953 || {{fb|NIR|name=Ireland}} ||align="center"| 3–1 || 1954 Home Championship || [[Goodison Park|Goodison Park, Liverpool]]
|-
|align="center"| 17 || 25 November 1953 || {{fb|Hungary}} ||align="center"| 3–6 || Friendly || Wembley, London
|-
|align="center"| 18 || 3 April 1954 || {{fb|Scotland}} ||align="center"| 4–2 || 1954 Home Championship || Hampden Park, Glasgow
|-
|align="center"| 19 || 16 May 1954 || {{fb|Yugoslavia}} ||align="center"| 0–1 || Friendly || [[JNA Stadium|JNA, Belgrade]]
|-
|align="center"| 20 || 23 May 1954 || {{fb|Hungary}} ||align="center"| 1–7 || Friendly || [[Nepstadion|Nepstadion, Budapest]]
|-
|align="center"| 21 || 17 June 1954 || {{fb|Belgium}} ||align="center"| 4–4 || [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954 World Cup]] || [[St. Jakob Stadium|St Jakob, Basel]]
|-
|align="center"| 22 || 20 June 1954 || {{fb|Switzerland}} ||align="center"| 2–0 || 1954 World Cup || [[Wankdorf Stadium|Wankdorf, Bern]]
|-
|align="center"| 23 || 26 June 1954 || {{fb|Uruguay}} ||align="center"| 2–4 || 1954 World Cup || St Jakob, Basel
|}

==Managerial career==
After his retirement, Merrick took over from [[Pat Beasley]] as manager of Birmingham City in May 1960. Merrick's first competitive game in charge was a 2–2 draw away at [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] on 20 August 1960, and his first home game was against [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] where his side drew 1–1. His side would go on to finish 19th in Division One. The Blues had another good run in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, reaching the final where they lost to [[A.S. Roma|Roma]]. The 1960-61 tournament did produce a win for Birmingham at the [[San Siro]] against [[Inter Milan|Internazionale]] in the semi-final; they were the only English team to achieve this for around 40 years.

Although Merrick spent well in the transfer market, bringing in such players as [[Jimmy Harris (footballer, born 1933)|Jimmy Harris]] and Welshman [[Ken Leek]], Blues failed to make much impact on the First Division, and finished 17th in the 1961–62 season. Blues once again entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but went out in the second round to [[RCD Espanyol|Espanyol]].

By far the best achievement in Merrick's reign at the club came in the 1962–63 season, when he successfully led the Blues to the [[EFL Cup|League Cup]] title, beating [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] in [[1963 Football League Cup Final|the final]]<ref name="Ind 10 Feb" /> thanks to goals from Ken Leek (2) and [[Jimmy Bloomfield]]. Birmingham finished 20th in the First Division. At the end of the 1963–64 season, in which Birmingham City again failed to make much impact in the league and finished 20th, the club requested Merrick's resignation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Birmingham City ask Merrick to resign |newspaper=The Guardian|page=16 |date=29 April 1964 |quote=Yesterday Mr W. Adams, the secretary of Birmingham City, issued the following statement: 'Mr Gil Merrick met the board this morning who notified him that changes and complete reorganisation of the club were to take place, and asked him to resign. To this Mr Merrick agreed.'}}</ref>

Merrick had two more spells in management, with non-league [[Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.|Bromsgrove Rovers]] and [[Atherstone Town F.C.|Atherstone Town]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atherstonetownfc.co.uk/news/newsDetail.asp?secID=1&newsID=179 |title=Gil Merrick passes away |publisher=Atherstone Town F.C |date=7 February 2010 |access-date=11 February 2010}} {{dead link|date=April 2012}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="5"|Record
|-
!G!!W!!L!!D!!Win %
|-
|align=left|[[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]
|align=left|May 1960
|align=left|June 1964
||202||64||46||92||31.7
|-
|align=left|[[Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.|Bromsgrove Rovers]]
|align=left|1967
|align=left| Unknown
||–||–||–||–||–
|-
|align=left|[[Atherstone Town F.C.|Atherstone Town]]
|align=left|1970
|align=left| Unknown
||–||–||–||–||–
|}

==Honours==
[[File:GilMerrickStand.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Gil Merrick Stand, [[St Andrew's (stadium)|St Andrew's]], August 2009]]

===As a player===
'''Birmingham City'''
*[[Football League North and South|Football League South]] war league: [[1945–46 in English football|1945–46]]
*[[Football League Second Division]]: [[1947–48 Football League|1947–48]], [[1954–55 Football League|1954–55]]
*[[FA Cup]] runner-up: [[1955–56 FA Cup|1955–56]]<ref>{{cite book |first1=Leslie |first2=Jack |last1=Vernon |last2=Rollin |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78 |year=1977 |publisher=Brickfield Publications Ltd |location=London |isbn=0354-09018-6 |page=490}}</ref>

===As a manager===
'''Birmingham City'''
*[[Football League Cup]]: [[1962–63 Football League Cup|1962–63]]
*[[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]] runner-up: [[1960–61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup|1960–61]]

'''Personal'''
* In April 2009, Birmingham City F.C. announced their intention of renaming one of the stands at their [[St Andrew's (stadium)|St Andrew's]] stadium in Merrick's honour. From the 2009–10 season, the Railway Stand would be known as the Gil Merrick Stand.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://world.bcfc.com/page/TenPointPledge/0,,10412~1639014,00.html |title=Ten point pledge: The Gil Merrick Stand |publisher=Birmingham City F.C. |date=25 April 2009 |access-date=13 April 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430101448/http://www.bcfc.com/page/TenPointPledge/0%2C%2C10412~1639014%2C00.html |archive-date=30 April 2009 }}</ref>
* In August 2009, Merrick was chosen by public vote as Birmingham City's representative on the [[Birmingham Walk of Stars]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/birmingham-city-legend-gil-merrick-100516 |title=Birmingham City legend Gil Merrick to get Walk of Stars plaque |first=Gregg |last=Evans |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=15 August 2009 |access-date=15 August 2015}}</ref>
* In October 2009, Merrick was the first inductee to the Birmingham City F.C. Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/colin-tattum-tribute-to-the-great-gil-118214 |title=Colin Tattum tribute to the great Gil Merrick |first=Colin |last=Tattum |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=5 February 2010 |access-date=15 August 2015}}</ref>

==References==
'''General'''
* Birmingham City A Complete Record by Tony Matthews (1995)
* FA Website (www.thefa.com)
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/sport-obituaries/7168308/Gil-Merrick.html Gil Merrick] – Daily Telegraph obituary

'''Specific'''
{{reflist}}

{{EFL Cup winning managers}}
{{England squad 1954 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Gil Merrick managerial positions
| list1 = 
{{Birmingham City F.C. managers}}
{{Atherstone Town F.C. managers}}
}}
{{Birmingham City F.C. Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Gil}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sparkhill]]
[[Category:England men's international footballers]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:Birmingham City F.C. players]]
[[Category:1954 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Birmingham City F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Atherstone Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:English Football League representative players]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]